Chapter Seventy Seven

"Maybe you did… or maybe not," Chloe replied. "I think I did the same with Timothy, and I understand how you feel. But you and Tina are soul mates. You have been married for years. You have been been through so much together, and I believe that if any couple can pull through this, then the both of you can… just like you did before"

"How is that supposed to happen when she won't even let me see her or speak to her? She fucking hates me"

"I don't think she does. As a woman, I understand her perfectly. You screwed up, don't pressure her into forgiving you. That will only make her resent you even more. Give her some space. The truth is that you can't make her forgive you, so what you have to do now is stay away… even if it's for a while and let her decide if she wants you back"

"And if she doesn't?" Evan asked, dreading the reply.

"Then you have to live with it. It's hard, but it's the consequences of your actions. That's life…"

Evan felt dejected and stared at the closed door for a while. He knew that Chloe was right and he had to give his wife some space.

"What about you and Timothy Packard? You guys fix things?" he asked.

"I guess I screwed up that too" came Chloe's reply, "I pushed him away. He doesn't want to hear from me either."

"Oh, are you alright?"

"I'm trying to be, Evan. I'm trying"

—----------

Tuesday morning, Chloe took the coward’s way out and called Evan to schedule vacation time for the rest of the week. He didn’t like that she was hiding, he told her. He said he needed her around and It was no way to face the issue, but after hearing how horrible she sounded, he didn’t argue the matter further.

The rest of the day she spent moping around her apartment, alternating between anger and fits of upset.

Wednesday, she packed a bag and headed for the one place she knew she could lick her wounds in safety. Bryce wasn't home but he promised to meet her at his dad's house so she went there. Darell took one look at her and held out his arms for a giant bear hug. She needed it. Never had the comfort of a hug and a home felt so good to her than now.

He sat her down and cooked her a huge breakfast, because in his book, there wasn’t anything that couldn’t be cured by a big, home-cooked breakfast.

All the time she ate, he sat beside her, eating his own food in silence. He didn’t pry or demand answers. It was what she loved most about him. He never intruded into her life or his children’s lives. No, he didn’t have to. He just waited for them to come to him, and then he’d move heaven and earth to make everything right again. Only this time he couldn’t fix it.

She spent the afternoon on the couch, watching television with him. He babied her endlessly, fixing her a snack in the afternoon and even baking her favorite cookies. Chocolate chip with no nuts.

By the time evening rolled around, it was obvious he had spent the afternoon on the phone with his sons. They arrived, one at a time, and made it a point to shower her with lots of hugs and endless pampering. Or at least Edward and Peter did.

When Bryce showed up, he took one look at her and demanded to know what the hell had happened. She burst into tears which prompted Edward, Peter and their father dad to threaten to dismember him for upsetting her.

“Well hell, Dad, I didn’t upset her. It’s obvious that someone did, but it sure as hell wasn’t me!” Bryce protested. “Hasn’t anyone asked her what’s wrong yet?”

“We were waiting,” his father said gruffly.

“Waiting for what?” Bryce asked in exasperation. “For her to cry?”

Chloe wiped at her eyes and tried to stop the sniffling. She knew they hated it when she cried. Especially Bryce. Bryce turned to her, his eyes softening at the signs of her distress. Then he sat down on the couch next to her.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Timothy Packard, does it?”

Despite her vow to cease and desist, his question spurred another round of tears.

“Good going, bonehead,” Adam growled.

“Anyone ever tell you that your skill with the opposite sex sucks?”Dalton asked.

Bryce put an arm around her and squeezed comfortingly. “What happened, Chloe?”

“Oh God, Bryce, it was awful. The paper printed these horrible pictures and this blog said horrible things. My career is shot to hell. My reputation is in shambles and Tim doesn’t want to see me anymore because I asked him to back off until the smoke cleared. He thinks I think he’s my dirty little secret, and he hates it. And me.”

She dug her palms into her eyes and rubbed until it felt like she was scraping her eyelids across sandpaper every time she blinked.

“Whoa,” Edward said. “Did any of that make sense to the rest of you?”

Peter and Darell exchanged helpless looks.

Bryce sighed. “Maybe you should back up and start with what the newspaper printed and what the blog said and why your career and reputation have been dragged through the mud.”

“It’s a long story,” she muttered.

“We’ve got all night,” Peter offered.

She sighed and once again poured out the whole story from start to finish, not leaving a single detail out. Except for the sex. The brothers had a hard time seeing her as anything other than their baby sister, and telling them about her sex life would only make them turn a sick shade of green. And then they’d probably go after Timothy with one of Bryce's baseball bats.

“That’s crazy,” Edward huffed.

Darell nodded his agreement. Bryce, who was a lot more tuned in to just what bad press could do to a career and reputation, was a lot more subdued. Concern flared in his eyes when she got to the explanation of the article and blog.

“That sucks,” Bryce said.

Chloe nodded. “Tell me about it.”

“So where does this Timothy person fit in?” Darrell asked. “I mean, there seems to be a big piece missing here. You were in a relationship with him and this paper prints stuff about you, and you said he’s angry because he thinks you think he’s your dirty little secret. Am I missing something?”